A Warning to Human Players for safety's sake.

[Ryan Morin]

Well, I do have to say this about my sister. In her mind her main objective was to get back on the pad and she did it so good, though hurt, that me nor the drivers didn't realized something was wrong until the head ref jumped into the middle of the field looking her way and ran back out to hit the main stop. That's when I looked over to see her sitting on the pad with two refs next to her that's when I ran over to her. So now she's doing just fine and will be on crutches for a few days but other than that she's just fine.

P.S. Elgin she said you can show the world the video.

[Elgin Clock]

Okey Dokey.

http://www.team237.com/videos/hpsafety.wmv

And thanks to Tom & the crew over at Team 195 for the mirror:

http://www.team195.com/video/UTC_hp_safety.wmv


Just a reminder. Be aware of your surroundings HP's.


Glad to hear that she is ok.

[Matt Krass]

Owww.

Hope she's doing better.

So has anyone found out what happens when disabling a robot makes it drop tetras on people?

[lsmith243]

I think we should start one of those reality shows like Real TV where we show all the human player accidents, we could also turn it into some kind of safety promo.... "When Good Tetras Go Bad" or something... I'm a human player for my team, and on the final day of the manchester regionals I got so caught up in the moment and the pressure to get back to the pad ASAP, that I started to trip and fall down (luckily, by some freakish chance I got my balance)... It's sooo scary, but I'm glad that girl that got "attacked" by the tetra is ok..

[Joshua May]

Thanks for the heads up Elgin. I'll be sure to pass this on to our human player. Hopefully nothing like this happens again.

[Billfred]

I'm just thinking, if during a match a driver or human player gets hit hard with a tetra (or anything else, for that matter), shouldn't there be some provision to allow them to leave their respective area immediately? Currently, you'd be facing some serious penalties if you left your zone.

Here's how I'd write it...

<S11> If, at any time during a match, a DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER, or COACH becomes injured and requires immediate medical attention, the head referee may, at his or her discretion, abort a match and restart it.

[Goober!!!]

Thank you for the INFO, and remember Safety is always FIRST!!!

[JulieB]

this game is so unsafe for the anyone around the field

[Jon K.]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I'm just thinking, if during a match a driver or human player gets hit hard with a tetra (or anything else, for that matter), shouldn't there be some provision to allow them to leave their respective area immediately? Currently, you'd be facing some serious penalties if you left your zone.

Here's how I'd write it...
Quote:
<S11> If, at any time during a match, a DRIVER, HUMAN PLAYER, or COACH becomes injured and requires immediate medical attention, the head referee may, at his or her discretion, abort a match and restart it.

That is actually what happened. There was about 20 seconds left in the match, and they replayed the match.

[kpugh]

Maybe the plexiglass should extend above the drivers station to create a ceiling above them. That way if a tetra is dropped it just lands on the plexi, not a person.

-Kristin

[nightrenegade00]

Originally Posted by Jon K.

That is actually what happened. There was about 20 seconds left in the match, and they replayed the match.

Actually by the time the head ref was able to get the attention of the computer guys controlling the time there was about two seconds. The side ref watching the human players noticed her down at about 20 to 15 seconds left. It took them a bit to realize she was hurt, tell the head ref and have him stop the match. They even finished the first match but didnt bother scoring because of the accident. I think the descision to restart the match regardless of how much time was left was a good call. There was a lot to distract the blue alliance and what if team Gus wanted to get some more tetras from the human player without realizing she was hurt until they looked over. Or they were going to try and make a defensive play and all of a sudden couldnt move because she was off the pad. It was scary and everyone clapped for her which i thought was very respectful.

-Crash

[Alex357]

At Pitts. a tetra actually went over the alliance station wall. Luckily, a team coach caught it, but it would've been safer if the walls were a little higher this year.

[Starman]

At the scrimmage before the Peachtree Regional, we saw a robot launch a vision tetra over the top of the center goal. Cleared it by several feet before crashing to the floor. The robot had the tetra on a long arm and did a quick rotation. Made me think just how dangerous this year's challenge is. Those tetras are 8 - 10 pounds each.

I hate to say it, but I think the playing field needs to be a hard-hat area. I know no one wants to see this as a requirement, but too many people are too close to the action and there is too much action going on to watch it all. A tetra can easily come from out of the field of view with really bad results.

Bike helmets might be enough, though no one can accept the liability for an injury with one on since they aren't designed for this application. A construction hard hat would be better, though they won't stay on the heads of fast-running human players. They would work fine for drivers, referees, etc.

How about it FIRST? How quickly can you make helmets a requirement, before somebody really gets beaned?

[nightrenegade00]

Originally Posted by Starman

At the scrimmage before the Peachtree Regional, we saw a robot launch a vision tetra over the top of the center goal. Cleared it by several feet before crashing to the floor. The robot had the tetra on a long arm and did a quick rotation. Made me think just how dangerous this year's challenge is. Those tetras are 8 - 10 pounds each.

I hate to say it, but I think the playing field needs to be a hard-hat area. I know no one wants to see this as a requirement, but too many people are too close to the action and there is too much action going on to watch it all. A tetra can easily come from out of the field of view with really bad results.

Bike helmets might be enough, though no one can accept the liability for an injury with one on since they aren't designed for this application. A construction hard hat would be better, though they won't stay on the heads of fast-running human players. They would work fine for drivers, referees, etc.

How about it FIRST? How quickly can you make helmets a requirement, before somebody really gets beaned?

I fully support the helmets being a requirement. Injuries can come out of no where. I know this is only a robotics competition but the injury doesnt care where or what you are doing. Sometimes and injury can change people's lives. If you some how tear your achillies tendon you won't be able to walk again. Think about that human players. I wrote a long thing about helmets and the site screwed up and I don't feel like typing it over. Bascially I said that the drivers and operators should wear hard hats and so should the human players if something better isnt available. I recommend for human players to wear full cage helmets whether it be a football helmet or lacrosse helmet. After I saw the human player from Gus get hurt and realizing that I was the only human player at UTC with a helmet I feel that it should be required. I'm not saying that the human players should wear full armor, but to definately be aware of their surroundings and be ready for anything. I don't want to be the only one wearing a helmet at nationals. If I have to I will go around to every team and ask if their human player wears a helmet. Being injured sucks as anyone who plays sports can tell you. I don't want to see anymore injuries especially at nationals. If you happen to get hurt, I will personally try to see if you are ok and do anything to help. Please take the necessary precautions and make sure your drive team is safe when they are up on stage.

-Crash

[Scott Chambliss]

Another, much scarier, scenario than falling tetras is falling robots. The trend this year is for robots that are very tall, and I have seen some that have fallen over. One that stands out particuarily vividly in my mind is when a scissor-jack robot, fully extended to at least 12 feet, toppled over in the center of the field. If it had fallen the other way, it could have fallen out of bounds and hit one of the loaders with considerable force on the head or shulders before hitting the knee-high fence. This is extremely dangerous. In the future (although I hope that the future games are designed better) there should be a complete wall around the field, or even the bubble dome idea.